- SOME LOCATIONS OVER 78% MORE EXPENSIVE THAN TWO WEEKS LATER

- FARO, BARCELONA AND LARNACA LOCATIONS TO WATCH FOR

Holidaymakers with school age kids planning to hire a car in Europe this October half term need to beware. In Faro it is 78% more expensive to hire a car during half term, compared with two weeks later.

iCarhireinsurance.com, a leading provider of stand-alone car hire excess insurance, looked at the cost of hiring an average family car for a week in five popular European destinations, Tenerife, Faro, Larnaca, Barcelona and Nice, during half term, from 24 to 31 October 2015, compared to hiring two weeks later from 5 to 12 November 2016. Four rental companies’ (i.e. Sixt, Hertz, Avis and Budget) costs were looked at.

The increase is most significant in Faro, where the average cost to hire a family car for a week this half term is £152, but only £86 two weeks later. It is a similar story in Larnaca where the price goes up £75 during half term week to £193, from £118, and in Barcelona where the price at half term is £174, compared with £144 in November.

Prices in Nice only change from £182 in half term to £180 in November, and in Tenerife average prices are £125 during half term, and £120 in November.

The cost of extras, including sat navs, child car seats, car hire excess insurance and extra drivers, remain the same at half term, but can still add an average £357 to the hire car bill. The most expensive extra is normally excess insurance which this October costs on average £161 for a week from the rental desks. The next most expensive extra is the sat nav with an average price of £83, followed by £62 for a car seat and £51 for an extra driver.

Travellers can avoid paying the high costs at the rental desk for car hire excess insurance if they buy a policy in advance from a specialist insurer, including iCarhireinsurance.com, which supplies comprehensive policies from £2.99 a day in Europe or £23.92 for the week - this is four times cheaper than buying this from the rental desk and it also covers vulnerable parts of the car, including the windscreen and tyres, that are frequently excluded from rental desk policies.

Without an excess policy, travellers are responsible for the first part of any insurance claim, even if the damage was not their fault including if the car is stolen. The average excess for the destinations in this study was £988 on average, but £1140 in Faro.

Ernesto Suarez, founder and CEO of iCarhireinsurance.com said: Hiring a car during school holidays is often more expensive than hiring at other times of the year, especially in popular family destinations. But there are still some good deals to be had if you shop around, and don’t buy extras from the rental desk. Buying your car hire excess insurance in advance, not adding an extra driver to the policy and bringing your own child's car seat and sat nav can save a small fortune.